Christmas 2008

In the meantime .. coz I haven't got round to organising photos etc

Searching for a good read ...

Soo  .... I LOVE READING .. and BOOKS .. and MORE BOOKS ...

... I've been thinking a lot .. as you do .. and ..

I decided I want to extend the type of books I read in 2009 ..

Nope not a NY resolution .. just me ... trying something new ..

I posted on EBB about any online bookclubs .. and a reply mentioned Oprahs and NZWW

So I went and signed up for NZWW Bookclub .. and then went over to visit Oprahs BookClub friendly site ..

I copied the looonnng list and are going to check out the library to see if I can work backwards and get reading some of them ..

I'll keep the blog updated with my progress :-)

Complete List of Oprah's Book Club Books

2008
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
2007
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
2006
Night by Elie Wiesel
2005
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
2004
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
2003
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
2002
Sula by Toni Morrison
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald 
2001
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry 
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Cane River by Lalita Tademy
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir
Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
2000
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Open House by Elizabeth Berg
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
While I Was Gone  by Sue Miller
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan  
1999
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton 
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay  
River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke  
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
White Oleander  by Janet Fitch     - Read
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve 
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink 
Jewel  by Bret Lott
1998
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage 
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat 
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen  
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
Paradiseby Toni Morrison
1997
The Best Way To Play by Bill Cosby
The Treasure Hunt by Bill Cosby
The Meanest Thing To Say by Bill Cosby
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons   
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Songs In Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris
The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou 
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds 
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
She's Come Undone  by Wally Lamb
1996
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard

I guess ...I kinda have to admit ....

.... to having a phobia/quirk .....about getting washing folded .. and in to where they belong!!!

   

Case in point the third photos .. goodness knows how long that has been in the shed .. (we'll call it DH's 2nd set of "drawers" huh ?..)  ....

The load on the chair .. well I put it there to "MAKE" me fold it .. it's getting to day 2

... and that smallish basket full .. well thats todays' ...

I'm very happy to put everything in the wash .. and then finally (eventually) get it to the washing machine ... and then happy to get it out on the washing line (most times) without having to re-wash it ..

.. getting it in no problem .. the boys and I have a game .. I get the pegs off .. and they scoop the clothes up in to the basket ... saves them ripping the clothes off by the hems ..

Where it all comes unstuck is at the folding and putting away bit .. maybe coz of the magnitude of the job .. coz I do about 4 loads all on a day

.. to catch up .... (slack housekeeper I am! )

.. or MAYBYE .. I just hate folding washing knowing it'll be on the floor within a couple of days

.. and on it's way back to the washing basket again .. to start it all over again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Kind of like me and housework in general really but that's a whole new post!

A sign of the times ?????

These came in the mail yesterday morning .....

The only 30th (or 21st for that matter) parties that we will be going to in the future will probably only be our nieces and nephews ... or our own kids ...

BUT .....

I don't feel old !!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big week ... for me on the personal front ..

I reached my first goal at the clinic at the weigh in this morning .. as I was UNDER 70kg .. I was 69.9kg
I had a 1.2kg loss since last Tuesday!!!!!!!!!
I cried I was so happy ...
So my goal to be under 70kg by Christmas came true today .. and I'm sooooo rapt!

This month I've lost another 10cm all over .. mainly my hips which was 4cm .. my bust only 1cm .. .. and my butt and abdomen .. 3 and 2 I think it was or the other way around

Ohhhh .. and I was discharged from my psychologist on Monday ... a huge achievement after being under the MH team for the second time for the last 4 (almost years) ... I do have a safety net of being able to be referred back if things get too much with me later ... all good ..

I'm quite happy about the discharge this time 'round ...

.. also he said he doesn't often offer but I am able to ring if things get out of control as he knows I probably won't unless it's really bad .. and of course if things get too much out of control (which they won't fingers crossed - lol) I can get referred back by the GP ..

Anyhoo ... love this time of year ..

Boys Christmas Concert

Here is a video of the boy's class's performance ..

.... Cam is a mince pie second from left

.. and Michael comes along and 'buys' him .. he is in the red top and green shorts ..

 

I don't think Cam was that excited .. do you ??? Heh heh

 

Michael looking sombre ... After a visit to Santa to get a treat ..

Here are the boys in their costumes ..

First ever ...

.... school photos ...

How cool ...

.. First ever photo of both boys looking at the camera

 

.. First ever class photo ..

Exciting .....

Flashback ..

Jeepers ..

I just found this photo of me from June 07 when I'd just given up BF .. and started trying to lose weight ...

        
June 07 - 89/90kg                                               and today (with my girl) Dec 08 - 71.7kg

I gave up .. started .. re-started .. then somehow got down to 77kg in Jan 08 (prob from stress ).. then up to 84 kg in Apr 08 .. and then re-started it all over again in July 08 .. heh heh ..

What a rollercoaster ride it's been ..

I can't get over the difference in my legs
.. self-obsessing here..

Just a random update ..

Oooohhhhh ... the boys got their first school reports yesterday ...

... and their sample folders ..

.. it's amazing to see the change since last term ..

.. they were good

.. and I am sooo proud of them .. had a lump in my throat reading them esp. the parts about how they are courteous, make 'sensible' choices and are caring towards others ...

... also how they persevere and don't 'opt' out with things that they find hard .. which is what we have tried to 'teach' the boys .. that to us it is the 'effort' they put in to it that means the most to us ..

Michael's had a few things to work on .. which was not entirely unexpected and he will have a teachers aide next year with his reading .... but otherwise all good ..

Cam's well it was great ..

Both excel in PE which is great ... heh heh .. as I was never a PE kind of chick ..

.. they both wrote about how much they love swimming at the end .. which is cool coz before we started lessons they were a bit freaked about even going swimming in the big pool ..

Michael's says .. he likes diving in the pool .. and Cam's says he likes going under the water and holding his breath .. lol

One week to go until school ends .. with a big concert on Thursday night .. expect a lot of tears ... and then no school on Friday .. but a Christmas Party for swimming ..

Last night I went and caught up with some friends for a girls DVD night .. (can you tell I don't get out much )

.. made ham and salad wraps ... and chicken and salad wraps ... and a YUM nibbles platter ...

Figured I’d been good all week ...

The DVD was Mamma Mia .. and then Mamma Mia with song subtitles ... and not one of us could sing very well

.. feel a bit knackered today tho' ... got home about 1am ..

Off to a Christmas parade this morning ...

But must hang the washing out first ..

... I only got up an hour ago ..

.. the kids have been running riot .. and it shows ..

IT JUST SUX ....

... my friend's 13 year old daughter lost her shoulder blade this Christmas ..

.. they did surgery yesterday to remove the Cancer from the bone in her shoulder ..

.. and unfortunately .. the whole shoulder blade has had to be removed ..

.. how fr*ggin horrible for her .. and my friend and her family ...

.. hopefully she will still have some mobility in her arms .. but not lifting it up and down ..

.. as someone said

CANCER SUX!

*Update .. the surgeons were able to keep H's shoulder joint intact so she has limited mobility at the moment .. but she is in good spirits and last update was that they were all playing cards .. and chilling out ..

Hopefully they will be home for Christmas .. and then the next lot of chemo will begin ..

Unfortunately they have found other hotspots in other organs and hopefully the chemo will attack these and rid the cancer cells ..

AGAIN CANCER SUX

.. and as one of the kids at the fundraiser said .. being sick SUX .. and I don't mean just sux .. but really, really, really sux!

Out of the mouths of babes!

A letter to Santa ..

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mum all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of choc.bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find any  more free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any colour, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the lolly aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mummy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.

Would it be too much trouble to declare tomato sauce a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house
without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime
family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.

Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and
dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, MUM...!

Getting all 'Christmas'-y here ..

 

Cam and Abbie checking out the decoration choice .. our home-made decoration .. handsome little man with his 'name' decoration!

 

Michael checking out the nosiest decoration in the world ... decorating the tree ...

Cam decorating the tree ..

Little Missy 'helping' .. but soon lost interest and went and played with the balls ..

The end result .. proud boys .. the kids with their work ..

YES ... I would love to have a "real" tree

.. but unfortunately Michael and I end up really really crook when we do .. and it all turns pear-shaped health-wise for us

.. so I 'brought' this one last year ..

Since the boys were little I have brought a decoration for them each year ...

First Christmas

2nd Christmas .. the snowmen you can see at the bottom of the tree ..

(when I was in the midst of severe PTSD .. and PND so was in a completely different realm of space and time)

3rd Christmas

4th Christmas

5th Christmas

 

This Christmas .. well I'm still looking for the 'right' ones ..

My Nativity Scene ...

On the tree

On the fireplace ..